It might seem strange that someone in the U.S., who has not, unfortunately, even visited Sri Lanka would have a comment about the religious-based violence that gave rise to “Not In Our Name.” But I’m just old fashioned enough, if that’s the right way to describe it, to think that the good and bad done for and to our brothers and sisters all over the world reflects on each of us, no matter where we happen to be geographically.

Most major religions have at their base a core of values that suggest kindness and tolerance. History has given us all the examples we could ever want of instances in which zeal and fervor have overshadowed tolerance, leading to some of the most ghastly human-on-human violence imaginable. To quote a religious figure who happened to have been Roman Catholic: “Though sometimes we have the feeling that what we do just means a drop in the vast sea, the sea would be less without such a drop.”

So, as my drop in the sea, here’s my declaration:

My name is Daniel Rainey, and no violence, persecution, or prejudice based on any religion, occurring at any time in any place, is done in my name.